The Lost Kingdom
by BrawlFannumber1
Summary: A long time ago, a great hero protected the kingdom. That hero is gone.
1. Desert Drive

I had finally found it. As the wind stirred, the sand lifted off the ground and gently touched my face. I paid no attention to it. I couldn't. The legends were true. There was a legendary kingdom hidden beneath the ground. I was in front of the most majestic castle I had ever seen. Of course years of being buried under the ground made it look less majestic, but that didn't matter. It was buried under yards of dirt, but with a little digging, no problem. I suddenly saw something under the dirt. Something shiny. I carefully stepped over to it. I stuck my hands in the dirt and dug out a bit so I could see better. It was glass. A bit broken but otherwise amazingly preserved. It had something painted on it. It looked like a girl...or was it? That blonde hair...

"Steve!" "Steve!" "WAKE UP!"

"Huh?" I woke suddenly, still not believing it was just a dream. My buddy John, who sat next to me, had ruined the best dream ever. Being an archaeologist/treasure hunter, it was obviously a really good dream to find a legendary hidden kingdom.

"Don't fall asleep like that!" John exclaimed. "I need you to drive the Jeep when I get tired."

It's also really easy to dream about a hidden kingdom buried under sand when you're driving through the desert.

"Alright, alright, I'll drive the Jeep in a while," I assured him.

"Good, I'm starting to feel a bit sleepy," he said, then yawned. He looked at his watch. "It's gonna be midnight in a few minutes, so-"

I noticed he suddenly stopped talking, so I looked over. He looked terrified. He managed to stutter "S-s-ssan-nd B-b-b-"

"What?!?!" I yelled. I turned to look at the direction he was facing.

My eyes suddenly widened.

"S-s-sandd-d B-bandits!"

If there was something an archaeologist feared most, it was breaking a invaluable artifact. If there was a second something, it was Sand Bandits. Sand Bandits are the cousins of those rotten Bandit thieves. Bandits steal things like Yoshi eggs, coins and babies in big bubbles, and you can easily get them back, even though they run pretty fast. They can just be marked off as naughty. But Sand Bandits, no, they're a whole different story. They steal all of the valuable things you worked so hard to find, your car, your money, your clothes (not kidding) then leave you stranded in the desert to die a slow and painful death while they drive off laughing. They're marked off as **cruel and evil**.

Being a man of quick reflexes, I switched off the headlights. John stepped on the brakes and shut off the engine. We got below the windshield and prayed not to be seen. John looked at me nervously. I nodded. I reached beneath the seat and pulled out the thing we had always hoped never to use. It was a dangerous alternative but we had no choice. I held the handgun tight, knowing I would probably have to use it. We couldn't let ourselves get robbed, especially not by Sand Bandits.

"OK, who looks to see if they're gone?" John whispered.

I angrily pointed at the handgun.

"Alright, alright," he said shaking his head.

"Hehehe," laughed someone a bit far away, but close enough for two frightened men to hear.

My heart pounded crazily as John slowly got up to look.

"What do you see?" I quietly asked.

"Th-they're h-here!" John frantically whispered.

My heart was starting to go crazy. I didn't know what to do.

"I looks like we got some archaeologists, hehe." "It seems so, hee hee."

I heard the creepy voices of the Sand Bandits, hesitated a moment, then rose from my hiding place.

"Gah!" I screamed as I pulled the trigger at one of the Bandits.

CLANG!

...

I had hit his mask!

"Whoa, they got a gun! You know what to do!" screamed one of the Bandits.

Suddenly, a blur passed in front of the jeep.

"No! Now they're running around! We gotta take cover!" John exclaimed.

I jumped out of the Jeep and onto the rough desert floor. There weren't many other places where I could hide, so I quickly slid under the Jeep. John was there too, breathing heavily.

"We can't let them take our stuff!" he desperately said. "And if they do, they'll leave us here, and who knows if we'll survive!"

My heart stopped. I knew the answer to that question.

"No," I said with a sudden determination. "We won't be victims to these bastards."

I got up and out from under the jeep. John looked at me surprised, but followed me out.

"HEY! IDIOTS!" I screamed for the Sand Bandits to hear. They looked over. They saw me and frowned.

"It's that jerk with a gun!" one of the Bandits said to the others.

"Let's get him!"

"Yeah!"

"Wait."

All of the Sand Bandits turned around. A Bandit with a big dent on his mask came from the crowd. I smirked.

"Leave him to me," he growled. He seemed really angry.

"Come on," I taunted, flipping the gun in my hand. Then I saw him turn into a blur and start to run around.

Bandits are really, really, fast, and they need that speed if they want to get away with the loot. They're probably some of the fastest creatures alive. And Sand Bandits are even faster. They're so fast, they look like a blur at night. And I had to use that speed against them.

"What the heck do you think you're doing?!?" John yelled at me. He didn't know what I was up to.

I saw the blur start to approach me. He lifted thick clouds of sand behind him which made him easily visible.

"I'll take that!"

The blur ran past me, and I felt cold air on my hand. The gun was gone. The plan was working perfectly.

The blur made a quick U turn and came once again towards me. I saw it's arm move, as if ready to hit me. I quickly ducked and stuck out my foot. Bingo.

I don't know much about physics and stuff like that, but tripping while going at over 100 miles per hour can't be good. Especially if you're rolling at that same speed towards a group of confused Sand Bandits.

"Gah!" "Watch out!" "Whoah!"

BAM!

My crazy, dangerous, and somewhat stupid plan had worked. John was dumbstruck.

"Wha-wh-how?" he stuttered, still not being able to speak.

I slumped onto the floor, trying to recover from the adrenaline and glad that it was over.

But I didn't rest for long.

"Well, well, well," said a voice. "Looky here. A brave archaeologist who defeated a whole group of Sand Bandits."

A figure emerged from the shadows.

"Or did he?"

I couldn't believe my eyes. It was the feared leader of the Sand Bandits, Warlu.

Warlu, the greatest and cruelest thief alive, is even more fearsome than an entire army of Sand Bandits. He's said to be the descendant of a famous thief, whose name was-

"Sorry to interrupt your thoughts, but I have an appointment to keep. Take them away boys." he commanded.

Out from behind him emerged two bulky Koopas.

"Let's get out of here!" John cried out from behind me. He jumped into the Jeep. I was about to run too, but Warlu said, "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

One of the bulky Koopas went over to John and grabbed him.

"He let go of me!" John struggled, but the Koopa threw him with force to the floor. He was out cold.

"I hope you don't make the same mistake." Warlu said, smiling.

I just gave him a nasty look.

"Put 'em in the back," Warlu signaled to the Jeep. "Let's go."

One of the Koopas picked John up and threw him in the back of our (ex)car. The other one grabbed my arm and I reluctantly got in the back as well.

The Koopas got in the front seat. They started up the engine and drove off.

So my "genius" plan was ruined by that dirty Warlu. I looked over at John. Poor guy.

I watched the sun coming out from the horizon, as we slowly left the Mushroom Kingdom.

**I decided to start with a short chapter to see how it goes. I'll try to get Chapter 2 out by next week. Please review!**


	2. Bandit Town

The guard yawned. He had been on duty for six hours, and he hadn't even seen a bug. He despised his job, one of the most boring jobs in existence, but it was the only thing keeping food on his table. What was even more boring was the place he was patrolling. The Mushroom Kingdom Museum of History. Sure it had some interesting stuff, but mostly old artifacts. He had seen it all a billion times. The only thing that was worthy of calling impressive was the shiny gold object in the center of the room. The legendary Power Star. It's said to have some sort of hidden power, but no one knows exactly what it is. Scientists studied it for years to no prevail.

The guard decided to take another walk around the museum to find his partner. He wanted to talk about something, to stay awake. But then, he sensed a presence in the room. He knew it wasn't his partner, because he saw no light. Every guard was asigned a flashlight, uniform and taser gun.

"Hello?" he called out to the darkness.

No answer.

Then he saw an object lying in the corner. Probably a mop the janitor forgot, he thought. But what he saw made his eyes widen in terror. His partner's body. The guard panicked. He frantically looked around the room. He then saw someone standing in the dark.

"Hello, Mr. Guard," the shadow said. "Don't worry about the other guy. He's just knocked out."

He started laughing. "Looks like the people running the museum don't know much history at all."

The shadow signaled to someone behind the guard. The guard turned around, but it was too late. He felt a strong jab to his back and fell to the floor.

The figure stepped out from the shadows. Bowser Jr., now a grown adult, was standing over the guard, who was lying unconscious. "Toads were never good guards."

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I slowly opened my eyes. Sunlight pierced them, and I quickly closed them again. I stretched out my arms, and they banged against something metallic. For a moment, I had forgotten where I was. Then I remembered everything.

"John," I whispered, turning to my friend. "You alright?"

"Ungh...I guess," he managed to say. He was barely recovering from that buff Koopa's hit. "So...they won?"

I frowned. "Won" wasn't a very good description of what had happened the night before. "Look around. We're prisoners to these idiots."

"I wonder why they took us instead of just leaving us in the desert," John pondered to himself.

"Well, let's hope that this is a good thing," I said to him. "Later on we might wish they had left us there."

My dream came to my mind again. Who was that weird turtle guy? I knew almost all species living in the Mushroom Kingdom. The society of archaeologists looked more like a zoo than a society. There were Koopas, Goombas, Shy Guys and many other creatures. But I had never seen a creature quite like that one.

And the museum. The dream seemed so real, it was almost like a message...

"Hey, you two."

The voice came from the front of the car. It was one of the Koopas. He was talking on a cellphone.

"We'll be arriving soon. Don't be disrespectful to the boss. Speak only when spoken to," he instructed us.

John and I just glared at him.

"Understood!?!" he said, an angry tone to his voice.

"Yeah, alright," I responded. He frowned at us, then turned around and continued talking.

John and I exchanged worried looks. Arriving? Where?

As if to answer my question, the other Koopa said, "Welcome to Bandit Town."

I looked around, and saw that we were driving through a city different from anything I'd ever seen. It seemed like nobody cared for others' property. There was graffiti and destruction everywhere. Some Bandits looked over, surprised to see a good car driving through the street. A lot of them saw us and gave us nasty looks, and I quickly hid from view.

Suddenly, the Jeep made a quick turn, and we were thrown to the side.

"Ow!" John cried. I had fallen on top of him, and the impact made us bang our heads against some briefcases.

The briefcases!

When you're an archaeologist, driving through the desert might make you come across something interesting. That's why we always bring our handy tools. We keep them in briefcases because they are somewhat delicate and expensive.

The tools might also work on something _other _than digging, I thought.

"Hey John," I quietly said to him.

John was massaging his head. "What?" he asked.

I picked up one of the briefcases. I took out a tool that was used to pry open doors and things like that. It was a special tool, because it could open tough things, but without harming them.

"I think I just found our way out. Come on, help me out with this," I said. I signaled to the back door of the car. John nodded, understanding.

It was another dangerous plan, I'll admit, but we had to get out of there.

"On 3," I whispered. "1..." John placed the tool on the door handle. To John's surprise, the door opened.

The Koopa was standing on the other side!

With all the commotion, we didn't notice the car had stopped. The Koopa snatched the tool from John's hand.

"Nice try, bub," he mocked. "Try anything else, and you'll be sorry."

John gulped. The Koopa forcefully got him out of the car. I sighed. Another failed plan.

The other Koopa signaled me to get out too. I stepped on to the street. In front of me was the cleanest looking building around. It was probably really important.

I looked at a sign nailed onto the wall.

NO TRASHING, OR ELSE!

Hm. No wonder.

"Come on. Let's go," one of the Koopas said. They opened the big door leading into the building. I hesitated, then followed them inside.

What I saw inside was amazing. It was like a palace. I was right, saying that the building was important. The main hall was heavily decorated. There were Piranha Plants everywhere, which made me kind of nervous. There were also many paintings on the wall. More weird turtle creatures.

One of the Koopas interrupted my sight seeing. "Move along," he told me.

But the building was just too amazing. It had giant chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, with all of the candles lit. The plants were doing a little dancy thing.

The Koopa turned around once more. "What, you need a dungeon map? Come on, we can't keep the boss waiting."

I followed him to another big door. John was looking a bit nervous. The Koopas pushed the door open.

Warlu was waiting on the other side. "Hellooo, we've been waiting for you."

He came over to us. "Take the other guy to his seat."

The two Koopas nodded, and took John away.

He took me aside to speak with me. "The boss must have a word with you. Remember: don't be disrespectful! We'll be watching you."

I was confused. "The boss? Wait, I thought you were the boss."

"No, no, no!" he said shaking his head. He took me to the front of the room. There, one of those turtle guys was sitting in a fancy chair. "Meet: The Boss."

He seemed familiar... the guy from my dream! He was real?!? But ho-

"Hello, Steve," the turtle guy said politely. "You probably don't know me."

He stood up, and I saw that he was wearing an elegant cape.

"My name is Bowser the second," he introduced himself. "This might sound weird, but I know you."

My thoughts were still on the dream. Maybe a weird coincidence?

"Steve. You don't know your last name, do you?" he asked.

He was right. My dad had told me that it was a secret he had to keep, so I could be safe. Whatever that meant.

"Well... I do." he said mysteriously.

"You...you know my last name?" I asked.

"Yes," he answered. "Actually, I knew your grandfather."

"My granddad?" I had never known my grandfather. Everyone said he was a great person, but one day, he suddenly disappeared, without a trace. No one knew why. No one knew how.

"So," I asked curiously, "what's my last name?"

"He," Bowser smiled. "I knew you'd ask, Steve Mario."

**Another short chapter. I was bored today and decide to write another one. Thanks for the reviews ChocolateTeapot and deadheart! Just what I wanted! Corrections and compliments. Sorry for any awkward phrases, I live in Mexico and haven't a chance to practice my English in years. Chapter 3 coming soon!**


	3. Racers and Dry Bones

A bright yellow light filled the room.

"Hmmm, interesting," said a Koopa in a white coat while taking notes. "Goomber, full power please."

The Goomba at the control panel turned the knob to "100%". Power Stars can't talk, but by the expression on it's face, you can easily tell what it wants to say. And the captured Power Star in the center of the room was begging for help.

I noticed that unlike the rest of my "dreams", my perspective was third-person. I could see everything from above. But I wasn't so sure these were dreams anymore.

"Wow. I've never seen a Power Star come to life before," Steve said. It was pretty weird seeing myself talk.

"That's because they need the correct amount of energy to revive," the Koopa scientist informed Steve.

Judging from the look on Steve's face, he wasn't just amazed by the Power Star; he felt sorry for it. He knew that even though people treated them as objects, they were alive. Collect 120! You won! But then what? What about the poor Stars? They have eyes and they talk (even with no mouth), so don't act like you didn't know they had life. Whoa! Wait...

I had started to think what Steve was thinking, I mean what I was now thinking because I was me again and- this was really confusing. I looked around. I wasn't above anymore. I looked at the Power Star. It was right in front of me.

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I woke up. I knew how to get out.

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_2 hours earlier_

"Mario?!?" I asked, not believing an ounce of his story. "Mario The Great?!? How-no, this can't be possible. Why should I believe a thief like you?"

I realized my mistake at once. Bowser Jr. took it as an insult.

"Thief?!?" Bowser scoffed, "If only you had been alive 100 years ago, you would know that I'm the descendant of Bowser the First, King of Bowser's Badlands." It looked like for a moment, Bowser was going to cry. But he regained the serious look on his face.

"Boy, have you been having weird dreams lately?" Bowser asked, with a suspicious tone in his voice.

I didn't know if I could trust him anymore. I turned around and saw John looking nervously at Bowser. He shot me a quick glance, as if to say "Don't!".

"I-no," I lied, not knowing what else to do.

Bowser eyed me carefully, then said, "You know, Steve, I don't think you really understand the situation yet."

He slowly got a bit closer to me. Then he took his hand out from under his robe. It had an electronic collar with some buttons. He got even closer. "I'm not the good guy."

He quickly pushed one of the buttons. I heard, "Gaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!", then nothing. I turned around. John was gone, and where his chair should have been, was a hole.

"Hey! He didn't do anything!" I shouted at Bowser.

Bowser looked at me as if nothing had happened. He then said, "Yes, he did."

A wicked smile formed on his face. "He chose a bad friend."

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"Look at them go!" the announcers exclaimed.

The racers zoomed past the finish line, entering the final lap. The red car, driverr #1, was in second place, trying to catch up to the first place car, driverr #3, who was in a purple car.

Lakitu was supposed to show the "Final Lap" card, but was too busy helping car #6 out of a pit. The course was DK Mountain, and the race was fast and frantic, like always.

"Now car #1 and #3 are tied, in a fierce battle for first," the announcer said to the eager crowd. Someone in the crowd didn't seem as eager as the rest.

The red capped driver in car #1 decided to use his last item, a mushroom, to gain a little advantage. The drivers finally approached the hill leading to the giant barrel. After drifting on the last turn and gaining some speed, car #1 was the first one to get to the barrel cannon.

"Woo-hoo-hoo-hoo!" the driver screamed as he was launched at an amazing speed of 130 MPH, and readied himself for the impact. Car #3 was right behind.

They landed on the rocky mountain below. The mustachioed driver of car #1 looked back and saw driver #3 approaching. His only chance of keeping the distance between him and #3 was the item box a few meters away. He drove through it and saw the item roulette on his display start spinning. It started slowing on a mushroom...but landed on a banana. He sighed. 1st placers never got good items. But he could still use it if he was skilled enough.

They approached the sharp turn with a hole in the center and boulders coming down from the mountain. This was his chance. If he could make #3 fall into the pit, he'd win for sure. He was adjusting his aim when suddenly-

BOOM!

They were hit by thunder! Driver #1 automatically lost control, dropped his precious banana and shrunk to 1/3 his original size.

"Hm!" he grunted angrily, but it just came out as a squeak. But he shouted with joy at what he saw behind him. The spinning effect of the thunder made his opponent in car #3 fall into the hole!

"Yahoo!" driver #1 squeaked happily. He was approaching the bridge, and regained his size. He was sure of his victory, but lost a bit of his hopes when he heard behind him a normally happy tune that meant terror to other racers. The star tune. Driver #3 had unluckily encountered one on the field when the rest of the racers dropped their items.

"Wa-ha-ha!" racer #3 shouted, announcing to driver #1 his soon-to-be defeat. Driver #1 tried to get away from the invincible power of the star, but driver #3 was just too fast. He got run over.

The star's power ran out just after flipping driver#1, but it was enough to get seconds ahead.

Driver #1 was recovering from the flip, and decided he had to use the final trick up his sleeve. It was difficult but necessary. He had to defeat driver #3 with the last crappy item he was about to get. Luckily, he could still see him ahead. Driver #3 picked up an item. He dropped the Fake Item Box behind him, not caring much about it. Driver #1 easily dodged it and grabbed an item as well.

The roulette spun once more, and driver #1 waited impatiently for the roulette to stop. His final chance, his final item was...a green shell! Driver #1 groaned, knowing how hard it is to hit someone with a green shell.

Driver #3 laughed, knowing the other drivers had no chance of catching up. Driver #1 tried to aim as best as he could, and fired the green shell, his last opportunity at winning.

The green shell missed driver #3 by a few inches. He was surprised, but glad it had missed him. The finish line was 50 feet away.

Driver #1 smiled. He hadn't missed.

KABOOM!

It turns out he wasn't aiming at driver #3, but at a Bob-omb someone dropped on the field a few feet away. Blown away by the amazing power of the Bob-omb, driver #3 was out of the race. Driver #1, Mario, had won.

"Yay!" the whole crowd cheered. They went to congratulate the Mario Kart Grand Prix Champion. Mario held the cup, with a golden star, above his head so everyone could see. Everyone could see the joy on his face.

Waluigi, driver #3, angrily got out of his kart. He had been so close. Every year, he lost to that "stupid plumber". He was so angry, he wouldn't be satisfied until he got revenge. He took out a wrench from under the seat. "Take this!" he shouted. With his good eye, Mario saw Waluigi about to throw the wrench. Mario quickly jumped and countered with a fireball. Waluigi saw the fireball and ducked.

Big mistake. Every racer knows that their karts have special protection so their kart doesn't get badly damaged with the crashes, items, and falls. They also know that these defenses are turned off after the race.

The fireball hit Waluigi's kart, and it quickly caught on fire. Waluigi turned around and saw his kart in flames. He got up to run, but it was too late.

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"To the dungeon!" Bowser commanded his guards. The guards grabbed me and took me to the other side of the room.

"Hey, let go!" I cried, and tried to free myself.

"Alright, you wanna do it the hard way?" Bowser asked. "Guards! Reunite him with his little friend."

"Wait, what?" Before anyone could answer, the guards threw me down the hole where John's chair had been.

"Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh-oof!" I screamed as I fell into the dark hole. The fall wasn't that long, but long enough for John to see me falling and move out of the way. I hit the cold floor hard, and my arms throbbed with pain.

"Gaaaooww..." I moaned. It was also long enough to really hurt.

"You alright?" John asked, helping me up.

"Not really, but it'll pass," I answered, wiping blood off my face. It was a miracle I could stay standing.

Looking around, I remember some movies, specifically Koopaladdin. There were chains hanging from the ceiling, with wrist straps for "special" prisoners. There was a skeleton in the form of a Koopa on the floor with its hands missing. I looked up. There they were, hanging from the straps. I shuddered. If this is how they treat their own troops, I wondered what they'd do to us.

"WHOA!" John shouted from behind me. I looked at the skeleton. It looked back.

Can anyone tell me what's wrong with that last sentence?

I looked at the skeleton. It looked back. That's it.

"Oh my God, it's alive!" John shouted terrified. Looks like it wasn't a Koopa skeleton. It was a Dry Bones.

We heard a voice coming from above. "Have fun! Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!" It was Bowser. He then shut the trapdoor-the only source of light.

"No!" I screamed. "That son-of-a-"

"Don't worry Steve, I still got my clip on flashlight," John said.

"Uuhhhhhhh..." a creepy voice coming from the other side of the room moaned. Dry Bones was slowly approaching us.

"Come on! Turn it on!" I yelled for John to hurry.

"Wait, I can't find the stupid button!" he said.

Judging by the footsteps, Dry Bones was now pretty close.

And knowing John, he wasn't next to me anymore. He was probably hiding from danger, as always.

It was just me and Dry Bones. In total darkness.

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The explosion was a horrible sight. People were running here and there, in what was supposed to be a happy event. The 16th annual Mario Kart Grand Prix was ruined.

What was even more horrible, was what happened to Waluigi. After his kart caught on fire, it blew up before Waluigi could get to safety. He was consumed by the fire, his flesh quickly blackening. His clothes caught on fire too, and he fell to the floor.

The paramedics tried to help. They couldn't. He was too badly burned. No one could do anything anymore.

Mario watched in terror. Waluigi was screaming, not being able to stand the pain. Mario tried to help, but couldn't do much. He got away from Waluigi. He covered his eyes with his hands as tears slowly formed on them. Waluigi was suffering, and it was all his fault. Suddenly, the screaming stopped. Mario was surprised and turned around.

What he saw made him cry even more.

Waluigi was dead.

And Mario had killed him.

**I know that the last part is kinda cruel, but it's part of the story. The beginning is also a bit cofusing, but this chapter and the beginning of the next chapter are part of a flashback, as indicated by the "2 hours earlier". You'll understand by the end of chapter 4. As you can see, chapters are slowly getting longer. Chapter 4 will probably be twice chapter 3's length. Please review!**


	4. No More Hero

Raindrops lightly tapped the windshield as she drove through the center of the street. She didn't want the stupid "security guidelines" of the toads, so she drove alone.

Princess Peach sighed. Still no sign of him. What had happened was horrible, but it was no reason to go into hiding.

She had no other choice than to keep looking. Only the headlights of her royal car illuminated the road as she drove into the dark night.

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Luigi sat in his living room, with a sad expression on his face. He was thinking about the events of the last hour. He remembered them perfectly.

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_55 minutes earlier_

Mario couldn't take it anymore. He had seen enough. He got on his kart, started it and drove away from there.

Luigi spotted him. "Mario! Wait!" he shouted at his brother. Mario didn't even look back. Luigi knew he had to do something. He got on his kart as well.

Princess saw them, and ordered a chopper to track the chase. He needed to tell Mario something very important.

Waluigi was recovering. The medics had managed to revive him, but they needed to get him to a hospital fast.

Luigi and Mario had already left the course, and were headed towards Toad Town. Mario accelerated, not wanting Luigi to catch up. Luigi wanted to use his turbo, but thought he might need it later. He could still reach Mario's kart if he gassed it.

Mario noticed Luigi speeding up, and drove into a group of trees. I can probably lose Luigi here, he thought. He skillfully maneuvered around every tree, and knowing Luigi wasn't as good as he was, he was sure Luigi would get left behind.

Luigi thought exactly the same thing. If he tried going into the woods, he would crash for sure. And then no one would catch up to Mario. Suddenly, he heard a helicopter approaching. It was a familiar shade of pink, and had a mushroom on it. Peach's helicopter.

The toad driving the helicopter turned on his radio and said, "We have a visual, I repeat, we have a visual, over."

A voice sounded from the radio. "Pick up Luigi if he gets into trouble. We need to catch Mario!"

"Yes, ma'am" replied the toad. They turned the helicopter in the direction of the trees, and threw a ladder down to a confused Luigi. Luigi looked around to see if the ladder was for anyone else, and after seeing no one, grabbed the ladder and yelped as he was lifted into the air.

The chase was on.

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Bowser(the first) had been laughing for over 5 minutes already. He had seen the whole thing on his TV (that for some strange reason, had horns instead of antennae).

"I didn't think that it would go this well!" Bowser happily exclaimed.

Bowser reviewed his evil plan in his head. It was almost fool-proof, but Mario always found a way around. But it looked like this time Mario's emotions got in the way of his hero-ingy stuff.

"Doopliss did a good job, didn't he?" Bowser Jr. said, happy for his father.

"Yes," Bowser replied grinning evilly. "Yes he did."

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The ambulance at the scene started shaking violently. Then it stopped.

Peach noticed the comotion and went over to investigate. Most toads had gone to attend the Mario situation, so she was one of the last ones left, besides her 2 body guards and other officials.

Suddenly, the back doors of the ambulance flew open. Inside was Waluigi, completely healed.

"Huh?" Peach asked, puzzled. "Waluigi- but you were- burned an-and stuff-"

A wicked smile was Waluigi's answer. Then, Waluigi started changing. His body got smaller and he finally took on his original form. Doopliss.

Peach gasped. So Bowser's minions were behind the whole accident. Or "accident".

"Surprised to see me princess?" asked Doopliss, grinning widely. "Our plan is working perfectly, hehe." He easily defeated the shocked toad guards. He then reached out to the princess, but she ran away, startling Doopliss. She almost never ran away, because her dress kept her from doing it. But Peach knew this was no mere kidnapping. If Bowser succeeded, their kingdom would have no more hero.

Peach looked back. Doopliss was catching up. She sighed heavily, knowing it was necessary. The princess blushed, thinking about what she was about to do. Then she grabbed her dress tightly and, still blushing, ripped it off.

Doopliss stopped running and stared in awe. The princess could now run faster since she was now in her pink underwear_. _Remember, this is a T rated fic, so that's as descriptive as I can be. But also consider that she's not **naked.** That would be weird.

A nearby toad was also watching. He saw a princess running half-naked from a ghost thing. Uh-huh. He rubbed his eyes, then looked again. The scene was the same. He turned around, to respect the princess, but smiled to himself. You don't see that every day, he thought.

Princess Peach stopped running and hid behind a tree. It was kind of cold, and even colder if you have almost nothing on. But at least she had lost him.

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Luigi looked down at the city, admiring the amazing view from above. It was kind of scary, being really high up, but it was no time to be scared. He had to find Mario and stop him from doing something crazy or stupid.

The helicopter was fast, but Lugi didn't think it was fast enough to catch Mario. But still, if they found him, they could follow his kart, and it had to run out of gas sooner or later.

"There he is!" the toad co-pilot exclaimed. The red kart rampaged through the street, nearly running over a few toads. Luigi couldn't believe what his brother was doing. As if Waluigi was that important. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. But it was still-shudders-...murder.

Or was it?

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"You really think you have a chance agai-against THAT!?" John yelled desperately.

"You're not **helping...**" I growled at him. I know Dry Bones are almost invincible, but I had to do something. I was 100% sure that Bowser Jr. was planning something. And something inside me told me that it had something to do with us. But then why did he want to get rid of us?

I was taken from my thoughts by Dry Bones' evil laugh. It was still dark, but I could still see his evil red eyes. I took a couple of steps back. For some reason, I wasn't as scared as I thought I would be. Something in the back of my head told me: It's just a Dry Bones!

And it was. A Dry Bones willing to eat my brains, or whatever they do. But I still wasn't scared. The voice in my head got louder. "He's just another common enemy. Stomp it! Stomp it!"

What? Stomp it? What did it mean by that? Jump on its head? Ha! That's ridiculous.

John finally decided to be a man and help. He got up and turned on his flashlight. I could finally see.

"Hey! You stupid Dry Bones! Over here!" he taunted. The Dry Bones looked annoyed. It turned around and headed towards John.

John looked like he had a plan. And he did. As soon as the Dry Bones got close enough, he did a little spin, stuck out his leg and kicked Dry Bones' bottom part with all his might. Then, the Dry Bones fell over. I looked at the Dry Bones, then at the ground in front of me. It's feet were missing. I leaned over over a picked them up.

John started to do a victory dance. "Ha!" he shouted. "Looks like I de-feeted you!"

I just stared. I didn't think anyone could come up with such a bad joke at a time like this. "..."

His smile disappeared. "It was just a pun...you know 'feet'..."

We stared at each other, then at Dry Bones. It looked like he was concentrating. I then felt the feet in my hands moving.

"I think he's trying to regenerate," I said.

"Well, don't let him get his feet back," John replied, "We have the upper hand, or fe-" He stopped, realizing it was the same bad pun, used differently. "Whatever."

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Mario frowned. He had noticed the helicopter by now. Why couldn't they just leave him alone? He wanted to be alone, and think about what he was going to do. One thing was for sure, his life would never be the same. Then, Mario saw something with which he could easily lose Luigi and the Princess.

Mario turned left and parked in front of a store. He got out of his kart and walked close to the wall, so he wouldn't be seen. He stood in front of a familiar green tube. Then he jumped into it and disappeared. The toads walking by paid no attention. Every toad knows that a warp pipe is the fastest way to travel.

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Peach walked out of the shop. She finally had clothes on again. She knew her own personal clothing department, conveniently hidden in the back of the city's biggest mall, would come in handy someday.

It was already getting dark. They had to find Mario now, or else they'd never catch up. Peach had also gotten a phone just in case. She dialed her "super secret private emergency number" 912, and waited for someone to answer.

"Hello," she said in her trademark high tone voice. "I need to be informed of what's happening right now with the Mario situation."

The toad (yes, every employee has to be a toad, ask Miyamoto) on the other side sighed. "I was afraid you'd ask," he said. "It seems they, um, lost him ma'am."

"They lost him?!?" Peach exclaimed. No! No! Now we'll never find him, she thought. "Um, I'm sorry but I have to go,"

"Wait, Pri-"

Peach put away her phone. It was time to take matters into her own hands.

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Mario jumped out of the pipe and appeared at the castle grounds. He hadn't used that pipe in a long time. He almost always drove or flew or walked to the castle, but one time he received a letter from Peach, and he really liked cake, so he took the pipe.

He walked through the grass and reached the castle doors. Mario had his own key, so he didn't need to knock. But he had to be careful. The toad guards could still hear him if he wasn't quiet.

Mario quietly opened the door and looked inside. Luckily, there were no toad guards in the main hall. He closed the door behind him. Mario went over to the first door he saw. He just wanted to take a walk. He opened it. It was the room leading down to the basement. Peach's castle had been remodeled many, many times but the general layout was the same. Mario could always easily get around.

The only thing Mario didn't like about the lower part of the castle, was that it was the least visited part, thus the least taken care of. The floorboards creaked and the walls were dusty. Maybe someone should-

CRACK!

One of the floorboards broke and Mario fell into the room below. He landed with a thud on the ice cold floor.

"Ughh..." Mario stood up and looked around. It was a room he had never seen before. It had strange markings on the walls, and it looked like there was some kind of pedestal in front of where Mario had fallen. On the pedestal was some kind of medallion.

Mario went over to examine it. It had some sort of inscription.

_It's flow is steady_

_It's path is clear_

_It's p--er t- _

_T-- o-- wh-- ne-r_

_---------------------_

_---------------------_

_---------------------_

_---------to those in need_

The bottom part was a bit dusty. Mario carefully grabbed it. He was about to blow on it, when he noticed it had something on the other side, too.

_The hero's star is the key_

He wondered what it could mean. A lot of people called Mario "The Hero", but there were thousands of stars he had collected.

His thoughts were interrupted by a red light coming from the medallion. It glowed intensely, and Mario had to close his eyes. Suddenly, he felt something weird inside him.

Then nothing.

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Dry Bones was winning. We tried to defeat him, but he always managed to regenerate. I thought about completely taking him apart, but it was downright impossible.

"Now what?" John desperately asked. We knew that if we didn't do something now, we would grow tired and as far as I know, the undead don't.

Then, out of nowhere, a bright red light appeared. We looked over, and it seemed that it had come from a portal of some kind. It hovered around the room for some moments, then flew at lighting speed, right at me. It hit me so hard I flew a couple feet into the air, then against a wall, then to the floor. But for some reason, it hadn't hurt at all.

"Whoa! Steve, are you alright?" John asked.

When I stood up, I felt some kind of power flowing through me. It was like my energy was restored, but now I had 3 times as much. My body was glowing red, but after a few moments, it stopped. I felt a lot stronger, too.

"Better than ever," I answered. I wanted to try my new powers, starting with Dry Bones.

"Hey, Boneface! Ever heard of food?" I mocked, wanting to get his attention. It looked like my comment had made him angry. Perfect.

I decided to take the little voice's earlier tip. I jumped. And hit the roof.

"Whoa!" I cried as my head hit the ceiling. I landed on the floor softly, as if I had only jumped a few inches off the ground.

John stared with his mouth wide open. It looked like he had noticed normal humans don't jump that high. "Wha- but how?" John stammered. "You-he...what just happened?"

"No idea," I replied. "But I think I can use it to our advantage. Keep the light on Dry Bones."

John nodded and obeyed, still confused. I took some steps back and jumped again. This time I jumped lower, but still missed. I was about to collide with another wall.

"Do a wall kick!" the little voice exclaimed. I decided to take its advice again. It was that, or slamming against the wall. As I made contact, I pushed against it, and it worked. I was now headed towards the other side of the room. I saw Dry Bones below me. Instincts that I never knew I had kicked in; I did a somersault and started falling. My feet made contact with Dry Bone's head, and he instantly collapsed. I had defeated him.

"Ha! Rest in "pieces"!" John yelled, using another bad joke. I was too excited to notice.

I had another idea. "Come on, John, let's get out of here," I said. "Hold on to me."

"Alright, I just hope you know what you're doing. You just got these skills," he remarked. "But I do want to get out of here."

I stood directly below the trapdoor and jumped once more. For a couple of seconds, we flew through the air. Then, I heard the sound of wood breaking as we burst into the room.

I looked around and let my eyes adjust to the light. Warlu and Bowser were looking at us surprised, and I suddenly felt extremely angry. It was payback time.

"What? How did you get in here?" Warlu asked.

I snickered. "Looks like you underestimated the grandson of Mario, the Legendary Hero," I said. Somehow, after I found out who I was, I had this new-found confidence.

"Don't talk like that to me, Warlu, the leader of the Sand Bandits!" he screamed angrily. His face was turning red, but he seemed a bit nervous. And there was another thing. How could a human be the leader of the Sand Bandits?

"And I don't care who you are!" he added. "But if you're my king's enemy, you're my enemy! Sand Bandits, attack!"

And as soon as he gave the order, Sand Bandits came into the room by the dozens. We were completely surrounded. But I wasn't very worried.

"OK Steve, show them what you can do," said John. He wasn't very worried either. He had already seen me defeat the Dry Bones.

"Alright, here I go!" I exclaimed, and ran towards a bunch of Sand Bandits. I did what I now knew best, jumped on a Sand Bandit's head. It was immediately defeated. I used the momentum gained from bouncing off its head and jumped onto another one's head. And another one. And another. The group ended, and I landed on the floor softly. I turned around. All of the Sand Bandits I had jumped on were out cold. But there were still more.

I decided to test my strength. I did feel a lot more powerful. I went over to another group of Sand Bandits, jumped a few inches and kicked a Sand Bandit at full force. It looked like I was strong after all; he flew backwards ramming into every Sand Bandit behind it.

John was still amazed by my new "powers". He stared, enjoying the show. I decided to get rid of the rest of the Bandits. I kicked one in the face, impulsed myself and landed on another one. Then, I jumped, taking a Sand Bandit with me, and threw it at another group of Bandits, knocking them all out. The last two Sand Bandits came running at me, but I was now quicker. I jumped, did a backwards somersault, and landed with my two feet on both of their heads. Their heads slammed into each other, and they were instantly knocked out as I landed gracefully, having defeated them all.

Warlu was flabbergasted. His whole army had been defeated by a single person. Me.

"Master, what will we do?" Warlu said to Bowser. Warlu cowered in fear, but Bowser just frowned.

"How about you-" I yelled as I lifted a 10 foot wooden carving of Bowser, "-take **this!**" I threw the statue with all my might.

Warlu screamed at the sight of a giant statue about to hit him. But as the statue was about to collide with them, it burst into flames, and was completely incinerated. John and I stared, amazed, as the ashes fell slowly onto the floor.

"This is why I wanted you to capture him!" Bowser screamed as he wiped his mouth. "It's my father's demise, all over again!" He suddenly looked sad again. "And YOU!" he yelled angrily, pointing at me, "YOU will NOT defeat- **ME!**" He looked over at Warlu. "Seize him!"

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Raindrops lightly tapped the windshield as she drove through the center of the street. She didn't want the stupid "security guidelines" of the toads, so she drove alone.

Princess Peach sighed. Still no sign of him. What had happened was horrible, but it was no reason to go into hiding.

She had no other choice than to keep looking. Only the headlights of her royal car illuminated the road as she drove into the dark night.

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Luigi sat in his living room, with a sad expression on his face. He was thinking about the events of the last hour. He sighed. He had to do something, he couldn't just sit there. But where could my brother be? he thought. He looked over at a photograph of him and his brother. Luigi smiled. It was a picture of him on top of his brother, having a lot of fun together. Then he looked at the background. Peach's castle. Ah, the memories. Wait. Peach's castle. Peach's castle! That's the only place where he could be hiding. It wasn't a very good place to hide, but there was no one there at the moment. Luigi stood up immediately. Next stop, Peach's castle, he thought.

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I concentrated on Warlu. One hit was all I would need, but I had to do it at the right moment.

"Ready, Stevey boy?" he asked, smiling. He had been scared before, but it looked like he had deduced that they were just Sand Bandits I had defeated.

"Ready when you are," I replied, also smiling. Then I ran at full speed at him. He started running too. I jumped, hoping he wouldn't be able to read my movements. Just as I predicted, he remained on the floor and just looked up when I jumped. As soon as I landed, I turned around and did a sweeping kick, with a full 360° spin. But that move he was able to predict. He placed his hand on the floor, impulsed himself and jumped over my leg. I had to get up, fast. I put my arms on the floor and pushed hard. We were both in the air.

"Yahhhh!" he screamed, as he tried to hit me. Perfect. I did a flip, dodging his arm, and stuck out my right leg. As soon as I was right-side-up, my leg struck his head, sending him plummeting down towards the ground. He hit the floor hard, cracking the tiles where he landed.

One down, one to go.

"Impressive," Bowser said. "But you won't defeat me." He was showing a suspicious level of confidence.

"How can you be so sure?" I asked defiantly.

He suddenly turned to face me. "Your grandfather...so you knew nothing about him?" he asked. I was surprised he had brought up the subject again.

"Not much...why?" I answered, examining Bowser Jr.'s expression. "Except...what you told me."

"Then you wouldn't know that he and my father were mortal enemies," he continued. "I actually fought against Mario myself, once. But from what I've seen from you, you're nothing compared to him. I have no idea how you suddenly got amazing powers, but you don't have the experience your grandfather had, and only with that was he able to defeat my father. My father was obviously stronger and bigger than Mario, but your grandfather always had this...this-" he stopped, as if not knowing what else to say.

I waited.

"My point is, just because you suddenly inherited all of your father's skills doesn't mean that you're a good a hero as he was."

I frowned. He was probably just trying to distract me. "I understand what you're trying to say, but I also know that you're the bad guy here."

Bowser Jr. looked over at John. "Your friend, he seems familiar," Bowser said, ignoring my comment.

John looked puzzled. "Umm, I don't think **I've** ever met you before, but..."

Bowser raised a hand, interrupting John. "Does the name "Daisy" mean anything to you?"

John stared at Bowser. I looked over and saw his stunned expression.

"Uhh...yeah," he answered after a while. "That's my grandma's name."

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The door opened with a loud creak. Luigi poked his head in and looked around. It was completely dark. He stepped inside and closed the door behind him. "Mario? Marioooo!" he shouted. He hoped his brother heard him. Then, Luigi noticed one of the doors was open.

"Mario?" He walked slowly over to the door, in case it was a thief. He slowly opened the door and peered inside. The first thing he saw was the giant hole in the center of the room.

"Huh?"

Luigi carefully walked over to get a better look. "Whoa, I wonder what happened here...."

CRACK!

Luigi had gotten too close to the hole, and another piece broke, sending Luigi into the room below. "GAAHH-oof!" Luigi landed with a thud, but luckily wasn't hurt. He stood up and dusted himself, when he saw someone else in the room.

"Mario?" He slowly walked towards the inanimate object. "Mario! It's you!" Luigi exclaimed happily. "I've been looking for you all day and..." Luigi stopped, noticing that Mario was just standing there, staring off into space.

"Umm, Mario?" Luigi shook Mario's shoulder. Then, Mario suddenly blinked once and regained consciousness.

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My feeling of power and agility was gone. Bowser stood towering in front of me, already having kicked John back into the dungeon cell.

"Told you so," Bowser said smiling, then pushed me into the hole behind me. I lost my balance and fell backwards, then hit the floor below. The last thing I heard was John's worried cries.

"Steve!"

"Steve!"

"Stay with me!"

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A bright yellow light filled the room....

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I woke up. I knew how to get out. Suddenly, my previous dreams made sense.

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"How long will it take for him to regain consciousness?" Peach asked the medic.

"I don't know, he's pretty beat up," the toad said. "It'll probably be a couple hours."

Peach sighed.

Luigi was knocked out on the floor, and next to him, a red cap with the letter "M" on it.

**On the request of my reviewers (looks over at a completely empty room, except one chair occupied by Wimpzilla, who gives a thumbs up) err... reviewer, next chapter will provide the backstory. Please review, I wanna know what you think!**


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